Anime can get weird.
And since most of the time all the animation constraints fly out of the window, the environment can end up in some weird places.
To help you find the really weird ones, I've compiled a list of anime that will make you wonder what the hell you're watching.
From distorted imagery to narrative nonsense, psychedelic thoughts, brain breakers, abstract views on mental health… We have some really extraordinary art or you!
25. Mind game
The yakuza kills Nishi and God approaches him. God mocks him, which annoys Nishi to the point that he runs past him and comes back to life.
Now, moments before his death, he fights the yakuza pursuing him and escapes with his lover, Mion.
What follows is a crazy, challenging adventure in which the two of them face crazier and more insane scenarios in pursuit of freedom - and loving every moment.
The Mind Game is one of the weirdest pieces of art I've ever seen. Which is not surprising given that it was Masaaki Yuasa's directorial debut.
Stunning visual effects that are incredibly distorted and deformed, give energy to the whole performance.
24. Ganz 0
One day, Masaru Kato is unceremoniously stabbed to death in an alley before waking up in a small room overlooking Tokyo.
Soon, he is given the opportunity to reincarnate depending on one thing: whether he can destroy the alien invasion attacking the city and survive.
Gantz 0 is a PC sequel to the two-season anime, but can be watched separately.
The animation holds up well, drawing on the outrageous things that actually happen on screen further into the uncanny valley.
Have you ever seen a little monk turn into a naked woman before turning into a pair of breasts, which then turned into a giant woman made from breasts? Not?
Wow, okay, that's amazing - then there's nothing to see here.
23. Diary of Tortov Riddle.
Tortov Riddle is a mute adventurer who traverses the abstract landscape on foot or aboard his leggy pig companion.
Throughout his travels, he meets many unusual characters, each of whom struggles or participates in his life.
He observes the customs of these people and then embarks on an endless journey into strangeness.
The indie unknown Kunio Katow has an incredible ability to tell quirky, heartfelt stories in a short, artistically unique format.
Many of his other works reach similar heights of brilliance, so please check them out - they're free on YouTube!
22. Inuyashiki
Ichiro Inusashiki, 58, is life sick, suffering from bone pain and an underappreciated family.
The situation worsens when he discovers that he has stomach cancer.
He is so disappointed with the reaction of his wife and children that he runs into the field to cry.
It is here that he is reborn as a cyborg weapon capable of total destruction.
He decides to use these abilities for good, but eventually meets an apathetic, sadistic teenager with the ability to fire invisible bullets from his fingertips.
Written with the same twisted mind as Gantz, Inuyashiki is completely absurd from the very first episode and only escalates the violence and disturbing content in darker places.
Seriously, this is an old robot fighting a psychopath - look.
21. Humanity has fallen into decay
Due to the declining birth rate, humanity has been put on the brink. In their place rose good fairies, extremely advanced, but infantile creatures, devoid of common sense.
Watashi is a young girl who has just started her job as an arbiter between the two species, and we watch her struggle with sentient chickens, masochistic bloody slices of bread, and other perfectly normal incidents.
Humorous in tone, but with a deep existential backdrop that accompanies it, Humanity Has Declined is bewildering due to its beautiful color palette and happy world building.
It's a hell of a tonal clash, but its tongue-in-cheek approach makes it work.
20. 1001 nights
"1001 Nights" is essentially a twenty-minute sex scene depicted through psychedelic drawings and stellar orchestral music.
The narrative is entirely audiovisual and relies on the viewer's interpretation to make out the story.
This is an underrated and underrated piece of art that has remained far from mainstream attention.
It is graphically tasteful, artistically seductive, using colors and distorted forms to tell a story of lust and deceit.
Complex, deep and brilliant.
19. Agent of Paranoia
Something strange is going on in the usually dreary city of Musashino.
A mysterious figure on roller skates continues to hit people on the street with a baseball bat.
The public calls him "Little Slugger" and an investigation begins; but the truth about this phantom intruder is far more disturbing than anyone expects.
One of Satoshi Kon's smartest writings revels in its unsettling content and constant "what the fuck" factor.
The mystery is held together by a thick fog of mania and confusion that brings the oddities to the fore. Be sure to check it out because it's a gem.
18. Paprika
The DC Mini is a revolutionary device that lets you step into another person's dream (yes, Inception - but that was before)!
Unfortunately, one of the models is stolen from the research facility and it is up to Atsuko Chiba and Kosaku Tokita to retrieve it.
Paprika is one of Satoshi Kon's best works of all time, intoxicatingly bright, disorienting, dark and simplyvery beautiful.
One scene in particular - the parade - is the first thing I thought of when I came up with this list. This is a must see!
17. Welcome to the Irabu office.
Ichiro Irabu is a child genius who heads the psychiatric department of Irabu General Hospital.
He meets many unusual people in order to get rid of the mental illness he has possessed.
Bandits who are afraid of sharp objects, businessmen with OCD, constant 24-hour erections and insomnia artists on the trapeze. These are just a few examples!
Along the way, you can also learn a few things.
16. Angel egg
In a barren wasteland full of shadowy figures and laboratory nature, a little girl spends every waking hour collecting water in jugs while protecting her prized possession: a large and mysterious egg.
One day, an unusual boy enters her life. And they begin a long dialogue about the nature of humanity, being, reality and existence.
This hour-long anime fever dream is filled with metaphors, constantly complex in subject matter and presentation, and leaves you hanging on to every word without understanding much of it.
Well, at least on first viewing.
Every time you watch it, you understand more.
15. Space dandy
The space comedy by Shinichiro Watanabe is strange for many reasons.
We follow Dandy, a bounty hunter who always seems to be facing the craziest corners of space. He is accompanied by QT (a robotic vacuum cleaner with a personality) and Meow (a feline alien) aboard the Aloha Oe, who draw views and make connections.
The first season is a complete crazy adventure.
But this is the second season where things get really weird.
Not only because of the storytelling, but each episode is animated and directed by a different critically acclaimed talent, creating a tapestry of ever-changing styles and tones that make each episode new and exciting.
14. Mononoke
A Medicine Vendor roams feudal Japan, hunting Monok, holding off parasitic spirits that refuse to move on. Before exorcism, he needs to understand its form, truth and purpose.
When he stumbles upon an anachronistic inn, he discovers a place that is supposed to be contaminated and launches an expedition into the surreal, investigating the paranormal and mirroring himself.
Abstractly animated with gorgeous coloring and a unique shape, Mononoke is a quirky horror that is both frightening and terrifying at the same time.
13. Village doctor
Unable to find the horse, the village doctor is forced to accept it from a mysterious man who kidnaps his assistant.
Before he can retaliate, he rushes to the bedside of a dying man who doesn't even seem to need help...but doesn't hesitate to make the doctor feel bad for not being able to provide any help.
Based on a short story by Franz Kafka, The Country Doctor tells the story of a tense, busy doctor who is given an impossible task in the middle of the night.
An absolutely perfect adaptation of the Kafkaesque sensation, copying the original storyline beat by beat, line by line.
12. Galaxy tatami.
Watashi wasted his time studying at the university.
Closer to graduation, he realizes that he never took advantage of this moment.
His love was not recognized. He had a friend, a thorn in his side. And he didn't join any clubs or acquire any talents or skills.
That night, he meets an eggplant-shaped man who gives Watashi the chance to try everything in everything, sending him back three years to his first day as a student.
Beautifully animated by Masaaki Yuasa and adapted from the famous Tomihiko Morimi, The Tatami Galaxy is a mature anime meant to inspire and remind us of life's fleeting sides.
11. Mawaru Penguindrum
The Takakura family consists of three members.
Two brothers, Kanba and Shuma, and their younger sister Himari. She is always sick and near death, so when she is given a short break in the hospital, the brothers decide to take her to the aquarium.
Unfortunately, she dies only to be resurrected by the hat she bought from the shop.
The Hat tells them to retrieve the "Penguindrum" to save Himari's soul.
Penguins soon became commonplace compared to the whimsical nature of Penguindrum and what finding them entails.
The animation is amazingly colorful, with abstract designs used to highlight themes.
For example, everyone who is not a key character - pedestrians, classmates, etc. - are displayed as silhouettes of little men. It's an anime whirlwind, so buckle up!
10 Spirited Away
Chihiro Ogino is tired of her parents and the choices they make.
They decide to move from her hometown to a new place, tearing her apart from her friends and lifestyle for reasons she doesn't understand.
Along the way, the family comes across an abandoned amusement park and decides to stop and explore - much to her chagrin.
The situation worsens when her parents are turned into pigs and she travels to an alternate world where ghosts, monsters and dragons are common.
Now she needs to find a way to get back home. But it turned out to be much more difficult than expected.
One of Studio Ghibli's greatest masterpieces tells an emotional story of childhood, family and learning to deal with aliens and the unknown.
It is also replete with abstract images and whimsical designs, providing a feast for the eyes of any observer.
9. Dorohedoro
Two types of people live in the abandoned area of the Hole: magicians and ordinary people.
Unfortunately, mages reign supreme and do not care about the lives of those who lack power.
We follow Caiman, a magician with a large reptilian head who has no memory of his past and is looking for who turned him into the monster he has become.
To be honest, the absurdity doesn't touch the surface.
Every inch of this anime is covered in a bizarre pattern of a repulsive city of crime and corruption that houses some of the craziest characters the medium has to offer.
Can't wait for the second season!
8 Parasite
Without warning, a race of aliens invade Earth.
These are inherently violent organisms that burrow into the brain before possessing the host.
Shinichi Izumi nearly became one of those hosts by shutting off the circulation to his wrist where the parasite had injected itself.
He now has a mutating alien arm that can warp itself for various purposes.
He even has a personality and calls himself Migi. Careful…
If that's not too bad, there are a lot of aliens who have succeeded in their invasion and their plans are directly interfering with his life.
Adapted from the 1989 manga in 2014, Parasyte's world has been updated to the modern era. The soundtrack is incredible and the plot twists are consistently captivating.
Just old fun.
What do global warming, dubstep and aliens have in common? Right here.
7. Kill la Kill
Armed with a large scissor blade and tight clothing that gives her strength, Ryuko Matoi must overcome all internal and external obstacles on her way to finding the one who killed her father and exacting revenge.
Studio Trigger are known for taking the absurd and making it feel somehow ingrained.
There is an ADHD energy in their expressive, overly animated style that keeps you busy all the time.
In addition, this is one of the best results of Hiroyuki Sawano.
6. Welcome to NHK!
Dropping out of university, Tastuhiro became a reclusive hikikomori with a drug problem and severe paranoia.
He is so frightened by the world around him and the people in his life that he is convinced that there is a conspiracy whose purpose is to torment him.
When a confused, troubled girl knocks on his door and decides to help him, he finds himself in a world of reflection and doubt.
5. Flowers of Evil
Kasuga Takao is an avid bookworm, especially fond of Baudelaire's decadent collection of French poetry, Les Fleurs du Mal.
One day, he discovers his lover's gym uniform and impulsively steals it.
Unfortunately, the school bully saw him. And the class is disgusted by the phantom thief.
What follows is a devastating blow to trauma, depression, and psychosis.
Flowers of Evil is one of my favorite manga and while I didn't like the completely unique rotoscope animation style at first, I soon liked it.
Abstract imagery, distorted sound design, and near-grotesque pseudo-realistic art paint a disturbing image of inner hatred and a downward spiral.
4 Neon Genesis Evangelion
Shinji Ikari is a teenager who is constantly neglected by his father, Gendo.
This is because he works as the head of NERV, an agency dedicated to fending off angelic alien invasions with large mechs called Evangelions.
He asks to see Shinji, but it ends up being a ploy meant to get his son into the fur, which he does reluctantly.
Unfortunately, this ends up not only testing his physical resolve, but also his mental strength. Gradually, the story plunges into a nightmarish madness.
One of the most legendary and important anime elements ever created is also one of the most disturbingly abstract.
The original ending turns into a weird collage of images due to budgetary constraints, but the equally disturbing sequel film, The End of Evangelion, proves that these atypical elements were probably intended.
3. Sequential Experiments Lain
Lane Iwakura doesn't fit.
A new technological hobby - WIRE - does not interest her.But that quickly changes when a member of her class commits suicide but sends an email to all of Lane's classmates from beyond the grave.
She hastily gets a computer and becomes overly immersed in the Cybernet, gradually bridging the large gap between reality and Cyberspace.
Thisstar image technological angst, how it can connect and disconnect, and the effects of dissociation and the symptoms of psychosis.
It constantly forces you to ask questions, distorting your perception of the narrative with each episode.
2. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
One of my favorite franchises.
So over-masculine, flamboyant and incredible, JoJo's is the epitome of absurdity.
I mean, it has a strange name.
We've been following the JoJo line around the world for over a century of world building and character growth.
I'll just go ahead and list a few things that don't go out of my head...
There comes a tense moment when a man must protect the lighter from fire and so delicately put the lighter into the croissant.
There is an entire part (the longest) dedicated to the cross-American races in the late 1800s, when our main characters are trying to stop the President of the United States from getting the corpse of Jesus Christ.
One of our MCs has four testicles.
Have you ever tried to stop a homosexual prison guard-priest from speeding up the universe?
It's an anime where "The Grateful Dead and the Beach Boys vs. the Sex Pistols and Sticky Fingers was hype as hell!" it's just a normal statement.
Do I need to say more?
1. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Simon and Kamina are two boys who live underground and dream of the world above.
When their wish comes true, they do not hesitate to jump headlong into the world they do not know, striving to make it their own.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann doesn't just stop your distrust, it evaporates it.
As the stakes rise, so does the absurdity, taking us out of the slow underground to the stars and beyond.
It embodies the absurd, makes absolutely no sense and wears it as a badge of pride.
Gurren Lagann is an inspiring, beautifully crafted work of love for the medium that aims to do one thing and does it perfectly: entertain.
